ON THE FASTRACK’S SPECIAL DELIVERY

(New York, NY – August 27, 2001) – Call it a labor of love! Chelonia and Bud, two characters from the comic strip “On the Fastrack,” are having a baby in September. The expectant parents are a married pair of computer geeks, who as befits their techie status, are “webcasting” the animated delivery of their first child on Labor Day. The 30-seconds of labor-intensive animation can be seen on www.onthefastrack.com/birth starting today. The baby will make an official debut in the daily strip on September 4th.

So how did Bill Holbrook, the strip’s creator, “conceive” the idea? “The idea of the webcast actually sprang from the characters themselves, as I imagined what kind of delivery two techies like Bud and Chelonia would prefer,” said Holbrook. “After I began writing the gags for the webcast in May, it occurred to me that I could create an actual animated webcast that readers could view online. Since real webcasts are jerky and consist of a new frame once every second or so, it would be within my capability to parody that experience for the viewer.”

“On the Fastrack” chronicles the comic misadventures at Fastrack Inc., a wry mirror of the contemporary work scene. Ruthless boss, Rose Trellis, runs Fastrack Inc. and thrives in an atmosphere of corporate political intrigue and backstabbing. Readers can also follow the life of Fastrack worker Wendy Rommel and her husband Art Welding, as they run the non-stop modern business gauntlet and juggle their home life with their children, Patina and Rusty.

The strip is sprinkled with office romance, computer technology mayhem and lovesick moat monsters! To see more of “On the Fastrack,” fans can pick up Bill Holbrook’s new “Fastrack” paperback book collection, “Surviving Y2K” now available from Plan Nine Publishing at www.plan9.org, or they can visit King Features Syndicate’s website at www.kingfeatures.com.

“On the Fastrack” has been distributed by King Features Syndicate since 1984 and now appears in some 50 newspapers worldwide, including dailies in Malaysia, Norway, and South Africa.